Essay about David Crockett

Submitted By tmblake197athan17
Words: 2274
Pages: 10

David Crockett was born on August 17, 1786 in Greene County, East
Tennessee. Son of John and Rebecca (Hawkins) Crockett. He was fifth child out of nine, born to John and Rebecca. In the 1790’s the family moved to Morristown, where they built a tavern in 1796 on the road from Knoxville to Abingdon, Virginia. At the age of 8 his father taught him how to shoot a rifle. As a young boy he would accompany his brothers on hunting trips. John let a man named Jacob Siler hire out his son David to help herd cattle to Rockbridge County. After David had completed the job, Siler tried to hold him with him against his will. David escaped during a cold winter night, where he had to walk seven miles through knee­deep snow. Eventually, around 1799 he made his way back home. Soon after, at the age of 13 David began school. David attended school for an extremely short amount of time. One day he decided to beat up the school bully and was afraid to return back home too his father. He decided to run away to escape his father’s punishment. David liked to call this time “Strategic Withdrawal” which lasted two and a half years. During these years away he worked as a wagoner and a day­laborer to survive, he would also practice his woodsman skills. He returned home in 1802 at the age of 16, he looked so different that at first his own family didn’t even recognize him. His family was in debt when he returned. He worked for a year to help discharge his father of his debts to a man named John Kennedy . Then returned to school for six months.
On August 14, 1806 in Jefferson County at just shy of 20 years of age, he married Mary Finley, daughter of William and Jean Kennedy Finley. Together they moved to Lincoln County, Tennessee, where they had two children together in 1809 and

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1810. Their children were John Wesley Crockett and William Finley Crockett. In 1811
David took his family and moved to the Rattlesnake Spring branch of Bean’s Creek in
Franklin County, near Lynchburg. There, he built a log cabin for his family to live in.
They lived there for the next two years. Next, in 1813 the Crocketts moved to Franklin
County. The Crocketts named their new settlement “Kentuck”. They resided there until the War of 1812 came to an end.
On August 30, 1812, Creek Indians mounted an offensive at Fort Mims. Many volunteers were needed to defend the area. Thousands of people volunteered, including David. He was quickly assigned under Major John Gibson, he was quickly put to work. Crockett’s first assignment was to conduct reconnaissance from Beatty
Springs, across the Tennessee River, and into the Creek nation. He managed to safely return from this task. During his time in war he participated as a scout, a mounted scout and a hunter. He also participated in numerous battles, such as Talladega, Fort
Strother, and the Florida Expedition. Him and his fellow crewmen had run ins with some of the red coats as well. Following the war in 1815, David returned to his family in
Franklin County with his honorable discharge. When he returned he found his wife severely ill. She died shortly after his return. He then remembered his fellow deceased comrades wife. His comrades dying request was for David to bring his wife, Elizabeth
Patton, his belongings. David remembered Elizabeth and found her living with her father in her hometown of Swannanoa in Buncombe, North Carolina. It took him quite some time to persuade her into marrying him, but eventually she said yes. A year after his wife's death, he remarried to the widow Elizabeth Patton. Elizabeth had two children

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of her own before she married David. David took his new bride to live with him on his homestead, “Kentuck”. Elizabeth didn’t find David to be a steady husband/farmer who would stay at home often. It was mostly left to Elizabeth to run the home and garden and raise their children. While she stayed at home, David made his